Thoughtful Flowers

"The essence of all beings is earth. The essence of the earth is water. The essence of water is plants. 

The essence of plants is the human being."

                                                     Chandogya Upanishad I 1.2 

Last night I went to watch 'An Audience with Chris Packham' my favourite New Forest nature man. I came away bursting with a heart full of passion, admiration and over flowing with new purpose and inspiration! 

Chris, the controversial king of integrity, a punk rocker with the kindest of hearts, smartest of brains and tenacious determination. 

He is a voice for nature, when it can't speak for itself.  

Feeling inspired I thought it was time to share something with you. More of a general ethos for me than anything else. Growing my business and setting a precedent. 

T H O U G H T F U L  F L O W E R S .

I was recently described as a 'mystic sherlock' and then coincidentally I recieved this lovely review from one of my brides, and it all fell into place. Thank you Natalie. 

" I throughly enjoyed working with Kelly-Marie, she is such a wonderfully kind and spirited person with a real natural creative flair. She really tries to understand what is in your head so she can take the brief and deliver it to the highest standard. " 

What resonated with me was the description of me as 'spirited and understanding' a way I have tried to be in everything I do. 

I work with flowers because I have an overwhelming love and passion for nature and I work with people because I have an unrelenting need to help them... I seek out the spirit of things.  

Sometimes the wedding and flower world does not seem like the right place for me at all. 

 I am a floral designer, I scrapped my creative job in London to move back to the country side and be where my soul belonged.  Styling with nature is a natural progression, but for a lady that thinks about everything so deeply it can't stop there. 

Floral design is now possibly one of the most fashionable professions you can aspire to have. Floral and wedding design is so beautiful, we all love it, the fashion industry loves it, social media loves is. 

The environment does not love it!

Of course it is not true for all of the industry ( hello The Natural Wedding Company ) but the international cut flower industry, as it stands, is destoying the very nature that it is made up of.

The British and slow flower movement is abundant now and has made such a positive change to educate people, British flowers are readily available again and are inspiring others to get back in touch with their gardens, it's truly amazing, but we can't just stop there. We have to keep growing and moving forward. Fighting the good fight. 

 'Thoughtful Flowers' for me started when I was having a moment of despair and doubt, so I started by asking myself,  who are you and what is it you really want to do here?.... 

'Hi i'm Kelly-Marie, I'm a thoughtful 'mystic sherlock' floral designer with healing hands and a deep understanding of animals and the healing ways of plants... oh yeah and 

I have a design degree from Central Saint Martins, and a penchant for hoarding (selling) vintage. '

Quickly realising that despite their appearance these things do not need to be seperate, i just need to find away to combine it all together. 

I do not have to belong in an industry that is destroying the very thing that lead me to it in the first place. We can all choose to do things differently. 

Thoughtful Flowers is a general term and a simple way for me to describe what it is i'm doing, to remind me to dig deeper, be thoughtful.... What are the plants trying to teach us?

I'm a CREATIVE, thinking about the environment. I am HEALER thinking deeply about the needs of our planet.

Thoughtful flowers is a journey for me to get intimate with the plants. Combining my herbalism, floral design skills and a passion for finding the soul in  things. 

Bringing you thoughtful, healing, arrangements, using only seasonal british flowers and natural techniques. 

 Nature is our greatest teacher so let's give back! Join Chris and become the voice that it so desperately needs. 

I'll be regularly sharing my journey on here and Instagram, and I hope that it will help to inspire, teach and get you involved. Like I said it is a journey, I am teaching myself, learning as I go along and I would love to hear from you! Let's work together. 

If you're getting married, having an event or would even just like to collaborate then please do get in touch. 

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kellymarieburdekin@gmail.com

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The floral arrangement above is made up of flora from my garden and foraged foliage. 

Glitter

You're the train that crashed my heart. 

You're the glitter in the dark. 

~ Bat For Lashes

Thank you all so much for your very kind words on my last post. 

It's Only Magic

but dear,

don't be afraid of love,

it's only magic. 

~r.m drake 

Love is the strongest form of magic! You don't need a lover to LOVE. 

   Start with yourself. 

Then love EVERYONE a little harder .  

The ingredients to the 'love charms' in this post are all listed below. 

All the flowers and foliage in this post are British, seasonal and foraged locally by me. 

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Make an order from my Etsy shop before Valentines day and recieve a little herby nosegay wrapped in velvet ribbon as a token of love and appreciation from me to you. 

Click on the link at the bottom of this page to visit my Etsy shop. 

There is FREE UK SHIPPING on all orders. 

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I V Y ~ 

Often with heart shaped leaves, Ivy is a symbol of binding. It can not live with out something to cling on to and to grow with. Always growing through adversity. 

Ivy binds us together. 

B A Y  L A U R E L  ~

Traditionally lovers would place a bay laurel leaf under each others pillows on valentines day and that night dream of love. 

If they dreamt of each other it was said that they would be married within the year. 

Bay is a very powerful manifesting tool. 

R O S E M A R Y  ~ 

Symbolising a constancy in love. 

Traditonally presented at weddings by bridesmaids to the groom bound with ribbon as a token of true love and loyalty. 

L A V E N D E R ~ 

Given by many a lover to impress and attact with lavender's beautiful colour and aroma. 

Charles II would take sachets of dried lavender tied up wth ribbon to his secret meetings with his mistress Nell Gwyn. 

T H E  H E L L E B O R E ~ 

Helebore's don't actually have any association with love, but in the language of flowers they mean to 'Relieve my anxiety', I thought that was a fitting one for anyone who dreads valentines day because of what it symbolises. 

Think like the Hellebore, standing tall with beauty and grace through the toughest of winters, bringing hope of Spring and better times ahead. 

Warning: Hellebores are very poisonous! Make sure you wash your hands throughly and do not combine with herbs that you intend to keep and use afterwards! 

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Wimborne Minster and Living Soulfully.

Wimborne Minster, where the town cryer is also the resident reggae dj, pumpkin festivals are taken deadly serious and where morris dancers have their annual meet up at our local pub, aptly named 'The Green Man'. 

It's like living in a real life Stars Hollow!

Wimborne is a town where old traditions sit side by side with entrepreneurial independant businesses and sustainability and creativity is key. 

When Pixie asked me what I love about where I live, I didn't have to look very far for my answer. 

Walking past a Romany Gypsy family selling wreaths outside their wagon, surrounded by families embracing their return every year!

Community spirit is what makes this town so very special, whether that be in the form of the Maypole going up without fail every May day, the annual literay fetsival, or all of the volunteers who give up their time to make sure our beautiful Art Deco theatre stays open every single night!

Wimborne is a perfect example of what #livingsoulfully stands for. 

Visit the Pixie website or dowload their app to explore towns and independant businesses with soul. 

Don't forget to share with the hash tag #livingsoulfully.

Alice Lodge is the cottage of my dreams situated at the gates of Gaunts House. 

Everlasting

Granny's Hydrangeas and river side forage. 

Everlasting and completely compostable... No glue gun or metal wire in sight!

If the traditional wreath style is more to your liking them join myself and Ellie, the Deans Court gardener, on Thursday 10th December for a lovely day of foraging, tutoring and Christmas festivities in the Deans Court grounds. 

Hope to see some of you there! 

Gypsy Wagon - Farrs Meadow

The moon over Farrs Meadow. 

You may have already read my love letter to this magical place in my last post. 

Nature, flowers, wild swimming and goats are just a few of the things that make camping here so special.

THEN they went and added a Bow-top wagon into the equation, and that right there means true love (and great difficulty getting me to leave). 

Complete with a comfy double bed (and room for little ones underneath), a gas cooker and a pot belly stove, I did feel that we were cheating with such luxury. 

Sadly there is no horse for your wagon, but maybe that's coming up next (David and Luds?), and really there is no need to move on. 

The wagon (don't let the gypsies hear you say caravan), has been handmade in Dorset and is parked up next to one of the most beautiful spots to watch the sun go down over Pamphill. You are also convienently situated just across from where David makes his delicious wood fired pizza.

Sit down at trestle tables decorated with wild flower arrangements, enjoy your pizza dinner and watch the sunset!

 For a more detailed description of Farrs Meadow visit my last post here. 

For booking, more information and a chance to meet the lovely David and Luds, visit their website here.

Facebook ~ Instagram 

~ Eat pizza, make friends, shower in a horse box, count the bats, meet the goats, light the fire pit and gaze at the stars.~

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Honesty and Hellebores

This post is somewhat of an explanation / apology for all those many months were my blog fell silent. I hope there are some of my old readers still here, still reading? If so then this is for you and thank you!  If you are a new reader then I hope you enjoy this very honest post and learning a little bit more about me.

I remember very clearly one of my the last nights in London was spent having dinner with friends. 

The conversation natually went to that place of "but what are you actually going to do when you get there?"

We had decided to move to the countryside, leaving behind great jobs and great friendships, a life that was nearly Ten years in the making. Obviously everyone around us thought we must have some incredibly secure plan for our new future... We did not!

My reply was along the lines of... "Above all I want to be happy, I want to do something that makes me happy. I want to spend my days in and around nature. Using the skills and knowledge I have already gained and build on them, learn every day and set myself on a path where one day I can genuinely say that I LOVE what I do. Where happiness is priority, not just climbing a career ladder."

Blank faces and mmmhmmm's, led to a silent, unspoken "Yes that is everyones dream, but realistically how are you going to do that!?" " You are giving up EVERYTHING!"

I was trying to convince people who had watched me work incredibly hard at building a successful career in the city, already doing something 'I Loved',  I was also, more than anything, trying to convince myself, because I was very scared! 

So just to reassure them/me, I went on to talk about about a vague plan of " hoping to somehow stay working in styling with vintage and props but perhaps try and get into the wedding industry, and if I could do all that combined with learning and being in and around nature, then that, right there, would be my dream job!" "Plus it all obviously has to happen in and around The New Forest."... No biggie! 

They were still worried, I could tell... They still thought I was crazy, but knowing how blindly optomisitic I am, they decided to humour me and waved us off with concern hidden behind their smiling eyes, probably waiting for us to turn back just before hitting the M25.  

Yes I am blindly optimistic, I always have been so, but my optomism has always lead me to where I needed to be. Plus I am very very stubborn! Once my heart was set on persuing my dream life in the countryside then that was what I was going to do (dragging Craig along for the ride) and it WAS going to work. It had to, I believe that thoughts become things and they always do!

 So there you go, my vague plan/ big dream has manifested itself into my new journey of floral styling and being involved in the weddings at the incredibly beautiful (and inspiring) Deans Court, in Dorset. 

 There is still vintage and styling and there are still props (much more of that to come). 

My Etsy shop, much like this blog, has fallen silent but will be re-opening again in May, and it has all been so that I could focus on my new floral adventure. 

Hence the very botanical turn this blog has taken. Things will be changing a lot around here. There  will probably be less pictures of me in pretty vintage, (which does still happen but I have less time and want to document it), and if honesty really is the flavour of this post then the 'honest truth' is that I'm more likely to be seen in my Barbour jacket than my Edwardian shawl! 

Practicality over prettiness but all in the name of vintage, props and flowers so I guess I can be forgiven? 

The pictures in this post are all taken by me and are dedicated to the heavy headed Hellebore, or 'Winter Rose'. 

A large boat vase arrangement and a Boutineer using Hellebores, plus other delights found in the Deans Court garden and my own. 

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